1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an instructed position setting device and an instructed position setting method for setting, on a display surface, an instructed position directed to an instruction area contained in an instruction image, which is displayed for receiving a predetermined instruction, as well as a program for causing a computer to carryout the instructed position setting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known that stereoscopic viewing can be achieved with utilizing a parallax by combining two or more images and three-dimensionally displaying the images. Such stereoscopic viewing can be provided by taking two or more images of the same subject from different positions using two or more cameras, and three-dimensionally displaying the two or more images with utilizing a parallax between the subject images contained in the images.
Specifically, if the stereoscopic viewing is achieved by parallel viewing with naked eyes, the three-dimensional display can be achieved by arranging the images side by side. Further, the three-dimensional display may be achieved by combining the images, for example, by overlapping the images with providing the images with different colors, such as red and blue, or by overlapping the images with providing the images with different polarization directions. In these cases, the stereoscopic viewing can be achieved by using image separating glasses, such as red-and-blue glasses or polarization glasses, to provide a merged view of the three-dimensionally displayed images, which is attained via the automatic focusing function of the eyes (anaglyph system, polarization filter system).
Furthermore, the stereoscopic viewing can be achieved, without using polarization glasses, or the like, by displaying the images on a three-dimensional display monitor which can provide stereoscopic viewing, such as a monitor of a parallax barrier system or a lenticular system. In this case, the three-dimensional display is achieved by cutting the images into vertical strips and alternately arranging the vertical strips of the images. Moreover, a system for providing the three-dimensional display by alternately displaying left and right images with changing directions of light beams from the left and right images through the use of image separation glasses or by attaching an optical element on the liquid crystal display has been proposed (scanning backlight system).
On the other hand, instruction input devices that detects an instructed position directed to an image displayed on the monitor and outputs a signal representing the instructed position, such as a touch panel system formed by combining a monitor and a position detection device to detect a position instructed on a screen, have been proposed. Further, a technique to detect an instructed position on an image displayed on a monitor in a contactless manner has been proposed (see U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20060161870, which will hereinafter be referred to as Patent Document 1). Furthermore, a technique to position a touch-panel input device for use with a three-dimensional display monitor has been proposed (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-151513, which will hereinafter be referred to as Patent Document 2). According to this technique, various inputs can be made by directing instructions to the monitor while three-dimensional display is carried out.
However, when an instruction image having an instruction area, such as a button, for receiving an instruction to input is three-dimensionally displayed, the instruction area is also stereoscopically viewed. Therefore, the position of the instruction area displayed on the screen of the monitor and the position of the instruction area stereoscopically viewed by the user looking at the monitor differ from each other. Therefore, when the user directs an instruction to the screen of the monitor while stereoscopically viewing the image, a position instructed by the user differs from a corresponding position on the screen, and thus an instruction different from that intended by the user may be input.